By Adam Wakefield

It was at the age of five that Ferreira remembers having his attention first held by the “magic” of television.

“I really wanted to be in those worlds I saw. Once, as a small child, I grabbed the TV set and wanted to climb into it,” he says. “Of course, I pulled the TV set and its cabinet over onto me. Instead of being concerned about me, my parents were upset that I broke the TV set.”

While captivated by television, it was only after working first as a financial journalist and then in a similar position on the hard news beat that Ferreira began thinking about how television – especially in South Africa – could do with comprehensive and ‘hard’ reporting. Today, Ferreira is the man responsible for the TV with Thinus blog and Twitter account and writes for different media outlets.

“The economy, politics, and sports are covered in a much better way than the entertainment beat. Somehow, it’s ‘okay’ to do gossipy stories, fake celebrity stories, and more superficial news when it comes to the ‘entertainment’ section of any site, publication, newspaper or magazine.”

Compared to the US, where there are entire publications dedicated to the daily coverage of the film and television industries, Ferreira says the majority of journalists in South Africa “basically just write what TV channels or shows want them to write, instead of actual facts”.

If given the power to reform local television, Ferreira says he would not meddle with the pay-TV industry, because “people who have been granted pay-TV licenses need to actually start using them”. Multichoice, as the dominant player in the local pay-TV market, is often accused of being a monopoly, but Ferreira says this is a misnomer offered by the uninformed.

“Anyone - even the SABC – can bid for and pay for the content that is on the various DStv channels. They don’t because they don’t want to or can’t.” 

If you watch rugby, soccer, and tennis, for example, Ferreira says, imagine three different pay-TV operators each acquiring those different rights, forcing consumers to pay for three different subscriptions and decoders. Compared to like-for-like pay operators in Australia and New Zealand, Ferreira believes DStv can be viewed in a positive light.

What does require urgent reform, in Ferreira’s opinion, is public television. His opinion of the SABC is that it refuses to reform and improve, even though it can be done. 

“The BBC is an outstanding example of excellent public broadcasting, but its board members are not political appointments like here. Somehow, the way SABC board members and executives are appointed should change, so that its people are those with actual broadcasting experience and not political appointments,” Ferreira says.

“It will make a huge difference to how the SABC is run. The decade-long delay with the switch to digital terrestrial television (DTT) is also hugely damaging to the local TV industry, and public broadcasting in particular.”

Another aspect of the local TV industry Ferreira is critical of is the way TV channels and programmes promote themselves. Producers work extremely hard to put content on viewer’s screen, he says, but the publicists assigned to promote their work appear to do “very, very little, in the majority of cases, to bring the actual content under the media’s attention”.

In the US, critics receive screener episodes of new shows, press packs, and are offered interview opportunities. In South Africa, according to Ferreira, TV critics are fortunate to even receive a press release or image from a channel or production house.

One of the television’s greatest appeals as a medium is as a way for its viewers to unwind, learn and relax. However, as a TV critic, Ferreira’s job prevents him from watching TV from the position of an everyman, but as an adjudicator of quality and form.    

“It has become impossible to switch off the critical eye of looking at things. When I look at something, it triggers those ‘academic responses’ involuntarily. Midway through a Game of Thrones episode, I will think that dragon’s tail could have done with some more CGI in post-editing,” he says.

Ironically, the television that relaxes Ferreira the most is the news.

“I love tracking and seeing how TV news responds to news events and frame stories and the various narratives. Strangely, it’s actually relaxing when I watch news channels – it’s the one type of TV where I have no preconceived ideas of what is coming or how it will be shown,” he says.

“I literally don’t know what the visuals or angles or interviews and the delivery will be. I also don’t get to watch it beforehand. I see it at the same time as everybody else, so I just take it in on face value and it is what it is.”

For more information, connect with Ferreira on Twitter.